Big Dan’s Reopen Nevada Plan

Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak has chosen to hide behind the decision-making of other governors rather than doing what he was elected to do, lead the state and the people of Nevada.

Simply put, Governor Sisolak is the man without a plan. This was made clear during his latest press conference. People are suffering because they are unable to get any kind of assistance such as unemployment and PPP loans while he continues to keep our economy closed with no real hope of opening it back up any time soon.

Instead of trying to implement what California’s governor is doing to re-open his state’s economy (or not), or what Oregon’s or Washington’s governor is doing to address their own respective state’s economies, we need a real leader with a real plan that helps real people, business owners, workers, and customers here in Nevada.

We are NOT California. We are a state made up of 17 counties, and many cities and towns that each has its own unique economic businesses and industries, health care infrastructure and personnel, and other factors to handle this pandemic. What we need is a decentralized plan that provides local businesses, communities, cities, and counties to lead in the decision-making process of when and how to open back up for business.

Big Dan Rodimer’s Plan to Open Responsibly

Begin gradual reopening of the Nevada economy and ease back restrictions NOW.

Continue to have those that are high risk to stay home in quarantine while others practice safety measures. There will be new infections, the virus will not go away. But those most at risk with health issues will be encouraged to continue to self-quarantine at their own discretion.

Trust local elected officials to determine the phases of a safe and responsible opening of our economy. The Governor clearly has no desire or leadership capabilities to construct and implement a plan, so better to leave it to local officials to make the best decision based on the data and circumstances of their respective constituencies. We saw Elko County vote unanimously to defy Governor Sisolak and begin opening up Elko for business. Other Nevada counties are following suit. Let’s hope Clark County Commissioners decide enough is enough and allow for the safe and responsible opening of Nevada businesses right away.

Trust local small business owners to do what is best. We all know that nobody cares more for the fate of a small business than the person who has to find a way to keep the doors open, the lights on, the employees paid and the customers happy. In the end, customers will determine where to take and spend their hard-earned dollars, and I trust that our job-providers will do what is best to provide for a clean, safe, sanitary environment for not only their employees but for their customers, as well.

Immediately allow for all medical and dental care services to resume in a safe and responsible manner. We are missing out on countless routine but critically-important check-ups on our citizens … preventing early detection of life-threatening diseases. This must stop. We have to allow doctors to make appointments to provide all manners of health and wellness check-ups and appointments to resume immediately.

Put in place America-First policies that will move critically-important manufacturing back from overseas to the United States, and hopefully to Nevada. We have learned an important lesson in this pandemic, and that is to never rely on other countries, particularly adversaries, to manufacture our needed health care needs, vaccines, medicines, medical ingredients, PPEs, masks, and other protective gear and life-saving drugs. The sooner the President and Congress focus on this priority, the better.

Make sure that we have adequate supplies of these health care items in state and local government hands going forward. Adequate supplies should be required by states and local governments so we do not face the problem of everyone relying on a massive, centralized federal government to try to be everywhere for everyone when the next pandemic hits. The federal government has to maintain its own stockpile for federal workers, our military, homeland security, and border protection personnel, while also assisting states and local communities, but they should not be our first call when supplies are needed.

The taxpayers of this country demand accountability in how our tax dollars are spent. We should demand a full investigation into how the World Health Organization (WHO) was so manipulated by China that they served as their mouthpiece when this pandemic broke … helping them mislead the world, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths. Before another tax dollar goes to the WHO, that investigation should be completed.

We have several things we can do as a state and as a country to better prepare for the next pandemic, but to get us out of this one, it’s time to open back up and get people back to work.

As we saw with the Great Recession a decade ago, Nevada is often hit the hardest. Then, we suffered the highest unemployment, the highest home foreclosure rate, and the highest bankruptcy rates. It also took Nevada longer than any other state to recover.

By keeping much of our economy closed, families throughout Nevada will continue to be harmed. With our economy in a standstill, families without incomes will face mounting debt, unemployment and debt. Depression and other serious mental health issues will appear as people wonder how they can afford to feed their families and provide basic needs.

Even as people get back to work, they will be reluctant to spend any new income as they will need months to pay past and existing financial obligations. This will affect all our businesses as they try to recover and bring employees back to work.

Also, it doesn’t help that we have a rudderless ship being commanded by a Governor who is incapable of leading and will prolong the suffering of people.

It’s time for local governments and responsible citizens to do what Governor Sisolak won’t…lead our state into reopening for business.